JAKARTA, Oct 31, 2013 (AFP) - Tens of thousands of workers went on strike across Indonesia Thursday, in the latest industrial action to hit Southeast Asia's top economy as its citizens seek a greater share of the spoils from stellar growth.

Unions are calling for hefty pay hikes as the cost of living skyrockets due to surging inflation, which has been driven up in recent months due to an unpopular fuel price hike.

Factories producing everything from clothes to electronics, often for international companies, stopped operations as workers across the archipelago of more than 17,000 islands downed tools.

Union leaders said that 1.5 million people took part in the strike on the main island of Java alone. Their figures are usually higher than those given by the police, which said early reports indicated 60,000 had taken part in the capital and surrounding districts.

In the manufacturing hub of Bekasi just outside Jakarta, large groups of workers sat in groups outside factories, brandishing banners that read: "Hike our wages by 50 percent".

"Life here in Bekasi is very expensive," said Muhammed Muhklas, 26, who works at a factory producing pharmaceuticals.

"We have to pay for housing, for food, and two million rupiah (a salary of around $175) a month doesn't cover our everyday needs," he said.

Security was tight with more than 1,500 police on duty in Bekasi and some 17,000 mobilised in Jakarta.

"All factories in Java's industrial hubs have stopped," said Said Iqbal, chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Union, adding that the strike would affect 20 of the nation's 34 provinces.

With inflation hitting 8.4 percent year-on-year in September, Iqbal said ordinary people were deeply concerned over the rising cost of living.

"Many workers who could not afford their rents have had to move out of their homes and live under bridges and in sewers. They are eating instant noodles instead of rice."

Workers say they have been hard hit by the government's decision in June to hike petrol prices by 44 percent and diesel by 22 percent, a move aimed at reducing subsidies that were gobbling up the state budget.

Workers are demanding "just a decent pay raise to compensate for inflation", said Iqbal, adding: "We labourers have contributed so much to the economy, why are we trampled upon?"

Strikes and protests by Indonesian workers have been on the rise as they demand higher wages at a time the economy is booming, clocking up average annual growth of above six percent in recent years.

Industrial action typical heats up in October and November as local governments decide on minimum wages for the following year in their areas.

Workers in Jakarta this year received a 44 percent increase in minimum salaries to 2.2 million rupiah ($200) a month, and others across the country have also receive sizeable raises.

Jakarta is due to decide on its new minimum wage between November 1 and 20, according to Iqbal, who said unions were calling for it to be hiked to 3.7 million rupiah.

However employers have expressed concerns that big salary hikes are denting profits and could lead foreign investors to take their business to neighbouring Asian countries.

The government has also raised concerns about soaring wages, particularly at a time when growth is slowing, and there has been recent economic turbulence due to fears that the US may reduce its stimulus programme.

Nevertheless, Indonesian factory workers remain some of the lowest-paid in Asia, often earning less than their counterparts in China or India.

SYDNEY, Oct 31, 2013 (AFP) - Scientists expressed "surprise and delight" Thursday after a new humpback dolphin species was identified off northern Australia, with genetic mapping singling out an animal not previously known to science.

A global team led by the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society made the discovery after examining almost 200 dead dolphins and tissue specimens from live animals across the four Atlantic, Indian and Indo-Pacific ocean areas where humpbacks are known to live.

A study of the beak length and number of teeth in 180 skulls from beached and museum specimens, as well as live DNA samples from 235 dolphins, identified a new species in the humpback, or sousa genus, which frequents waters off northern Australia.

"Based on our combined genetic and morphological analyses, there is convincing evidence for at least four species within the genus," lead author Martin Mendez wrote in the paper, published in the latest edition of the journal Molecular Ecology, adding that this included "a new as-yet-unnamed species off northern Australia".

Biologist Guido Parra, a member of the study team from Australia's Flinders University, said it had long been debated that local humpbacks were distinct from their more distant cousins but there had been insufficient evidence until now to support the hypothesis.

"The unique thing about this study is that in previous debates the data sets were always limited - either purely genetic or based on traditional taxonomic studies," Parra told AFP.

"We were able to actually marry those two - so morphological and genetic - and not only marry those two approaches but also look across the entire (genus) range.

"We are very surprised and of course delighted to discover the recognition of a completely new species."

Humpback dolphins have a vast home range stretching from the tip of Australia all the way to Africa, and they are considered native to some 40 countries across Asia, Africa and the Pacific.

Parra gathered skin biopsy samples from both deceased and live humpbacks off northern Australia for the study, which he said was a "long-term collaborative global project".

The Wildlife Conservation Society said it was a significant finding - identifying a new mammal species is rare - and that it hoped it would boost conservation efforts.

Two of the three already-identified sousa species are in decline and considered at risk from habitat loss and fishing, with S. chinensis, or Chinese white dolphin, found in the eastern Indian and West Pacific Oceans, listed as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

S. teuszii, which lives in the Atlantic off West Africa and is known as the Atlantic humpback or Teusz's dolphin, is rated vulnerable.

The next step in the process would be to draw up a manuscript of the findings for consideration by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the body responsible for formally declaring and naming new species.

Parra said he could not reveal what potential names were being debated for the new humpback but said it would hopefully be "related to Australia".

It has been a bumper week for Australian scientists, with the discovery unveiled Monday of three new vertebrate species in a remote part of the country's north, isolated for millions of years and described as a "lost world".

Humpback dolphins are so named due to a distinctive hump just below their dorsal fin, which is also uniquely elongated.

Infant humpbacks are born a creamy or pearly white similar to a beluga whale and darken to grey as they reach adulthood. They typically grow to eight feet (2.4 metres) in length and live in coastal waters, deltas and estuaries.

EVERY week, 22-year-old Jonathan Ong Jun Kai sheds his army fatigues for civilian clothes and drives to town.

But while his friends head out for family dinners or dates with girlfriends, Ong is off to school.

The marketing and finance major at Kaplan Singapore is one of an increasing number of full-time national servicemen (NSFs) enrolling in part-time degree courses at private schools even as they serve the nation, instead of waiting to resume their studies after two years of national service (NS).

They attend classes on weekends and in the evenings after they book out of camp.

This trend started just two years back, according to a Kaplan spokesman, adding that in the past only a "handful of students" were NSFs.

In 2011, 42 NSFs were pursuing part-time degrees at Kaplan. The figure went up to 73 last year, and this year, 139 out of 6,000 part-time students are NSFs.

"The NS men who choose to study part-time while serving the nation want to get a head start over their peers and enter the workforce earlier," said Kaplan Singapore's executive vice-president Leon Choong.

The head of MDIS School of Engineering, Dr Ben Lim Kheng Kiong, has also noticed that his classes are seeing more NSFs, whom he said are looking to "use their time more productively".

PSB Academy, meanwhile, has seen a "modest" 13% increase in the number of NSFs in part-time programmes from 2011 to 2012.

While the school would not reveal exact figures, dean Susie Khoo believes the trend will become more common in the coming years.

She said part-time courses offer NSFs flexibility, allowing them to "pursue personal development" while "not distracting them from serving their obligations to the nation".

Last month, the National University of Singapore announced that those who have completed NS would be able to take some modules online starting next January, instead of waiting for the school semester to start in August, giving them an early start of a couple of months.

Most of the NSFs attending part-time courses say that they prefer not to put their studies and career on hold for two years. By graduating sooner, they can secure jobs quicker, and start building up work experience earlier.

NSF Mohamed Sofian Mohamed Ali, a 22-year-old engineering student at PSB Academy where he has classes twice a week, added: "I want to have a head start and work full-time after I finish NS. I also want to earn a higher salary so, hopefully, the degree will give me a better standard of living."

The Temasek Polytechnic graduate, who sees his night classes as a retreat after a hard day of NS, added that studying part-time keeps him from forgetting everything he had learnt. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

The Canadian actress is set to star alongside Keanu Reeves in a new movie.

The star of Richard Curtis's About Time, Rachel McAdams, is negotiating the female lead in the forthcoming science-fiction film opposite Keanu Reeves, Variety reports. Director Brian Kirk (Game Of Thrones, Dexter) will make his film debut behind the camera for this romance in space.

Based on a screenplay by Prometheus writer Jon Spaihts, Passengers will take place within the passageways on a spaceship headed towards a habitable planet. Due to a technical error, one of the passengers is woken 90 years before schedule. Unable to face his fate alone, the lonely hero (Reeves) decides to wake a lovely young woman to keep him company (McAdams, pending current negotiations).

Kirk will begin shooting Passengers sometime in 2014.

McAdams will soon return to cinemas in Every Thing Will Be Fine and A Most Wanted Man. — AFP Relaxnews

Zoe Saldana and Ewan McGregor are in talks to join Kill The Trumpet Player, a feature on the life of famous jazz musician Miles Davis.

No details have been released on which roles Saldana (Star Trek Into Darkness) and McGregor (Jack The Giant Slayer) are aiming to take in the biopic on the legendary trumpet player, known for his musical innovation and for his somewhat shady personality.

Don Cheadle, who has spearheaded the project for several years now, will direct the film and star in the role of Davis, who died in 1991 at age 65.

Herbie Hancock, who worked alongside the musician as the pianist in the Miles Davis quintet, will executive produce Kill The Trumpet Player, Screendaily.com informs.

Speaking about the project last year, Cheadle announced that he hopes to break with the conventions of traditional biography and incorporate elements of gangster movies. The film will be set in 1979, when the musician took a hiatus for health reasons before returning to the stage two years later.

Saldana will appear in the crime dramas Blood Ties and Out Of The Furnace before the end of 2013. — AFP Relaxnews

After last season's explosive finale, Homeland returns with a whole new load of plot twists and shady characters that give the third season new promise.

WHEN Season Three of Homeland opens, the CIA is still reeling from the car bomb that exploded in its own headquarters at Langley, killing some 200 people close to two months ago (series time).

A senate committee has been set up to investigate the bombing – dubbed the second 9/11 – and US senator Andrew Lockhart (Tracy Letts), its chairman, asks the question that's on everyone's minds: how can the CIA be expected to protect the country if it can't even protect itself?

Everyone, except for CIA operative Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), has put the blame squarely on war hero and suspected turncoat Nicholas Brody (Damien Lewis) who, at the end of the last season, fled the country with her help.

Having been by Brody's side at the time of the bombing, Mathison is naturally a prime focus of the committee. Her alibi ­— that she'd passed out for 14 hours and is unaware of what transpired — isn't holding water and it seems as if her mentor and friend Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin), the new head of the CIA, has not only turned on her but is going to throw her under the bus.

He has her institutionalised by proving that she's gone off her medication and is mentally unstable.

The focus of the first two episodes of the new season is on Mathison. And like her, the pace of these episodes is fast and frantic. It's full speed ahead — a good way to pick up from where last season left off.

Mathison is wracked with guilt about the bombings which she feels she should have pre-empted.

Then, as the hearing continues, she watches Saul tell the committee how she hid her relationship with Brody from the Agency and that she may be a threat to the investigation (heck, she may even be implicated), Mathison feels betrayed … and furious. We've never seen her so furious. She runs to the press to tell her side of her story but alas, Saul obtains a psychiatric detention order for her and sends some men in white to take her away to the madhouse.

Oh, this really pisses her off.

If you've had any doubt that Danes deserved her two Emmys for her work on Homeland, these two episodes will strip them away. She pretty much carries the entire episodes and she does it magnificently. She's not just manic, she's pissed. In fact, we're a little pissed at Saul, too. It's so out of character for him. Where is he going with this?

Of course, there is a twist which was revealed in last Sunday's instalment, the season's fourth episode.

Turns out Mathison and Saul are in cahoots. They have a plan: they make it look as if the CIA has hung Mathison out to dry so that she will be contacted by the terrorists (no more Abu Nazeer; this season's villain is Majid Javadi) to act as their double agent.

Complicated much?

While it is heartening that Saul turned out NOT to be a douchebag after all, their plan seemed a little too … easy. And all that emotion that Mathison displayed in the beginning — that was all an elaborate act? She's that good?

So anyway, Mathison is now a double agent, having been contacted by a representative of Javadi who promises to get her out of the mental institution on the condition that she betray the CIA and work for Javadi.

She agrees — it's all going according to plan, apparently.

Meanwhile, where is Brody?

He appears in the third episode … in South America. He is
injured (and bald!) – he was shot multiple times in the abdomen – and is taken to an ominous and dark tower by some strange men with guns. He is then treated by a nameless, mysterious man who turns out to be a contact of Mathison.

He tells Brody that there's a bounty on his head and that he is lucky to be alive and that his only safe haven is the tower. Drugged up and in pain, Brody notices a man enter the room in which he is recovering and rummage through his things, making off with his passport. When he wakes up stronger, he becomes anxious to get to his "next stop" — presumably Montreal as per plan — but is told by Mathison's contact that there isn't a "next stop" and that this is as far as he can go. Feeling as if he's actually being imprisoned rather than rescued, Brody tries to escape.

He goes to a mosque for refuge, seeking the help of a local imam. Unfortunately, the imam considers him a terrorist and gives him up to the police. Thankfully for him, Mathison's contact comes to his rescue in a bloody shootout. Brody heads back to the tower, feeling as if he has been hung out to dry. No passport, no news from Mathison, no light at the end of this dark, dreary tunnel. Which is reflected in the tone of the entire episode — it's slow, intense and heavy. At times, it borders on being … dull.

And speaking of dull, on the home front, Brody's family is trying to deal with the repercussions of learning that he is one of the country's most wanted men. His daughter Dana (Morgan Saylor) apparently attempted suicide and when the season opens, she has just returned home. She's angry and disappointed and confused and the only person she feels can understand her is a fellow troubled teen she meets while in rehab.

Maybe it's just me but I fail to see how these "home scenes" actually bring anything much to the story. They seem out of step with both the development and the pace of the plot.

The writers must have a reason for giving Dana so much airtime, though ... I just wish they'd hurry up and make her relevant because she sure is bringing the show down (no discredit to Saylor), one melodramatic sulk after another. And don't let me get started on Jessica (Morena Baccarin).

The season seems to have potential (despite the premiere getting poor ratings in the United States) and I am actually really curious to see how it develops.

WHEN Joo Sang-wook decided to star in Korean drama series TEN 2, he never imagined that shooting it would be so challenging.

In an e-mail interview, Joo said he was attracted to TEN 2 after reading that Team TEN – the special unit featured in the show – mainly investigated serial murders.

He found the investigation process to be very exciting.

"When I first read the script, I was amazed by the bizarre twists and turns in the plot, so I am sure the audience can feel the tension as well.

"To be honest, I was worried about the ratings when I found out that TEN would be shown on a cable channel, but demand for another season proves that the effort of both the production team and actors paid off," said Joo, 35.

In TEN 2, the actor reprises his role as Yeo Ji-Hoon, the leader of Team TEN.

Joo described Yeo as a mysterious man who has many secrets and that he works hard to investigate cases for personal reasons.

"Yeo Ji Hoon is a perfectionist who only focuses on his work. He has been chasing a murderer (and is intent on catching him). He is always very serious, so he never smiles, but frowns a lot.

"People would think that he's very selfish, and that he thinks only of himself and doesn't care about others," said Joo.

Among the most challenging scenes Joo had to shoot were the ones employing "Computer Graphic Filming" techniques.

"They were high-speed scenes, so I had to stay perfectly still. Even the tiniest movement could ruin the take.

"When I had to do the same take over and over again, I got really tired. I felt like I was being punished," Joo revealed.

He added that the filming schedule was very tight so everyone was pretty exhausted at the end of each day.

The actor also said that he had to spend more time learning the script, since he wasn't familiar with his character's job and wanted to be sure he got everything right.

"TEN is a crime drama and the screenwriters have done much research on the world of criminal investigation.

"There is a lot of special terminology used in the show.

"At the same time, my character is also a professor of criminal psychology and he uses many difficult terms – his lines are very long!

"While it wasn't difficult to understand the script and my character, it was sometimes hard to memorise my lines. Every time before filming, I need to revise the script at least 10 times to ensure I won't say
anything wrong. Many scenes were filmed at night so it was physically exhausting," lamented the dashing South Korean actor.

Joo was last seen in the
K-drama Good Doctor which
finished airing earlier this month.

He is currently busy promoting his new movie The Punisher, which will be released in South Korea tomorrow.

ROB Lowe, best known for his role in The West Wing, has drawn upon his own life story to create The Point, a new series that has been picked up by ABC, Deadline.com reports.

As co-executive producer on The Point, Lowe will revisit the memory of his teenage years in the late 1970s. During the summer of 1976, a young Lowe left Dayton, Ohio, for Malibu, California, with his mother and his younger brother. The show will focus on the consequential cultural shifts taking place in Malibu during the period, as well as on how the characters adjust to their new life.

Lowe recounted these experiences in his 2011 autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends. To create and produce the TV series based on the story, he has reunited with former West Wing producer and writer Kevin Falls, who will also pen the screenplays for The Point. – AFP Relaxnews

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The Canadian actress is set to star alongside Keanu Reeves in a new movie.

The star of Richard Curtis's About Time, Rachel McAdams, is negotiating the female lead in the forthcoming science-fiction film opposite Keanu Reeves, Variety reports. Director Brian Kirk (Game Of Thrones, Dexter) will make his film debut behind the camera for this romance in space.

Based on a screenplay by Prometheus writer Jon Spaihts, Passengers will take place within the passageways on a spaceship headed towards a habitable planet. Due to a technical error, one of the passengers is woken 90 years before schedule. Unable to face his fate alone, the lonely hero (Reeves) decides to wake a lovely young woman to keep him company (McAdams, pending current negotiations).

Kirk will begin shooting Passengers sometime in 2014.

McAdams will soon return to cinemas in Every Thing Will Be Fine and A Most Wanted Man. — AFP Relaxnews

Zoe Saldana and Ewan McGregor are in talks to join Kill The Trumpet Player, a feature on the life of famous jazz musician Miles Davis.

No details have been released on which roles Saldana (Star Trek Into Darkness) and McGregor (Jack The Giant Slayer) are aiming to take in the biopic on the legendary trumpet player, known for his musical innovation and for his somewhat shady personality.

Don Cheadle, who has spearheaded the project for several years now, will direct the film and star in the role of Davis, who died in 1991 at age 65.

Herbie Hancock, who worked alongside the musician as the pianist in the Miles Davis quintet, will executive produce Kill The Trumpet Player, Screendaily.com informs.

Speaking about the project last year, Cheadle announced that he hopes to break with the conventions of traditional biography and incorporate elements of gangster movies. The film will be set in 1979, when the musician took a hiatus for health reasons before returning to the stage two years later.

Saldana will appear in the crime dramas Blood Ties and Out Of The Furnace before the end of 2013. — AFP Relaxnews

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Senate on Wednesday was close to passing a package of measures to bolster the country's weak tax revenues, including higher taxes for the rich, levies on sugary drinks and junk food, as well as a charge on stock market gains.

After giving general approval to the fiscal bill late on Tuesday, the Senate must still vote on divisive sections that lawmakers want to repeal or amend, a process which has been held up by opposition from conservatives.

On Wednesday evening, leftist opposition lawmakers said they had agreed to changes that would further lower the bill's overall tax take and require the reform to be sent back to the lower house for final approval ahead of an end-of-Thursday deadline.

The fiscal reform is one the main planks of President Enrique Pena Nieto's economic agenda, and although it will not raise as much new revenue as had originally been hoped, it has prompted vigorous attacks from opponents and lobbyists.

Disputes over the bill, which aims to introduce a new top income tax rate of 35 percent, risk complicating negotiations over other reforms sought by the Revolutionary Institutional Party, which lacks a majority in Congress.

At the centre of the president's reform ambitions is his proposal to open up the state-run oil industry to more private capital. On this front, the PRI is banking on assistance from the conservative National Action Party, or PAN.

But the PAN has been at loggerheads with the PRI over the fiscal reform, forcing the PRI to work with the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) to improve the tax take. The PRD, by contrast, is against Pena Nieto's energy reform.

The PAN walked away from the Senate debate on proposed amendments to the fiscal bill early on Wednesday after accusing the PRI of not taking its concerns seriously.

The PAN was upset when it failed to stop the standard rate of value added-tax of 16 percent from being extended to border states that now pay an 11 percent rate, and has said it will not return to debate the proposed amendments.

Senators took up discussion of the bill again on Wednesday evening, with lawmakers expecting a speedy vote on the reform that will boost Mexico's tax receipts by less than the previously estimated 2.7 percent of economic output by 2018.

Senators said they did not yet have an estimate for the impact the agreed-to changes would have on overall tax receipts.

"Without a doubt it's a decrease in revenues that will mean a decrease in spending," said PRD Senator Armando Rios Piter, who negotiated changes to the bill with the PRI.

OIL REFORM

Once the fiscal reform is passed, Congress will set about approving Pena Nieto's energy overhaul, which aims to lure private capital with profit-sharing contracts.

But the PAN feels Pena Nieto's model does not go far enough to attract major investment, and lawmakers in the party have pledged to pressure the PRI into providing greater incentives to oil companies, such as production sharing contracts.

That could put the president under attack from leftists who accuse the government of wanting to sell out Mexico's oil wealth to foreigners and could mobilize large protests.

The PAN may also push the PRI for a more radical electoral reform aimed at weakening the PRI's hold on power in Mexico.

The tax overhaul is a part of a series of reforms that Pena Nieto hopes will strengthen the economy and help boost a growth rate that has lagged that of other major emerging markets.

Earlier this month, the lower house watered down the tax bill, throwing out some measures including plans to apply the sales tax to rents, mortgages, property transactions and school fees.

At the same time, the PRI, supported by the PRD, modified the fiscal reform to lift top income tax rates, pushing more of the burden onto the richest section of society.

Roughly half of Mexico lives in poverty, while much of its wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few powerful families like that of billionaire telecoms mogul Carlos Slim.

The top rate of income tax in Latin America's No. 2 economy is currently 30 percent, but the reform sets out a sliding scale of higher rates capped at 35 percent for those earning more than 3 million pesos (145,490 pounds) a year.

PRD senators said they had agreed with the PRI to keep the income tax rate for those who earn between 500,000 pesos and 750,000 pesos at 30 percent, versus a proposed 31 percent.

They also agreed to raise a planned levy on junk food from 5 percent to 8 percent, and increase the percentage of workers' benefits that companies can deduct from their total tax bill.

Changes to the reform require the bill to be sent back to the lower house of Congress.

Changes to the tax bill in the lower house in mid-October created a shortfall in the budget plan for next year.

That prompted lawmakers to raise the government's oil revenue estimate and make other changes to close the gap. These are due to be voted by the Senate by October 31. The tax bill is tied to the budget, which must be approved by mid-November.

TURPAN, China (Reuters) - Chinese state media demanded severe punishment on Thursday after the government blamed militants from restive Xinjiang for an attack in Tiananmen Square, as the exiled leader of the region's Uighur minority called for an independent probe.

An SUV burst into flames on Monday after being driven into a crowd in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the symbolic centre of China's power structure and one of the country's most closely guarded areas. The three occupants and two bystanders were killed, and dozens were injured.

Police said it was a "terrorist attack" carried out by people from Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, and announced they had caught five accomplices who were planning holy war.

The ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily said the attack was a crime against humanity, adding that the government should spare no effort to ensure Beijing's safety.

"Violent terrorist crime is the shared enemy of all humanity, the shared enemy of all ethnic groups in the country, and it must be severely punished under the law," it said in an opinion piece on its website.

"Maintaining the capital's security and stability is a responsibility of utmost importance."

The English-language China Daily said the perpetrators will "go down in history as murderers not heroes".

Many Uighurs chaff at Chinese controls on their religion, culture and language, despite the government's protestations they enjoy widespread freedoms. Xinjiang has been beset by violence, blamed by China on Uighur separatists and extremists.

But Rebiya Kadeer, president of the Munich-based World Uighur Congress, the main exiled Uighur organisation, cautioned against believing China's account of the incident.

"Chinese claims simply cannot be accepted as facts without an independent and international investigation of what took place in Beijing on Monday," said U.S.-based Kadeer, who lives in the Washington area.

China calls Kadeer an "anti-Chinese splittist" and will almost certainly ignore her call for an international investigation. Authorities have said five suspected Islamist militants have been apprehended in connection with the incident - all of whom have names that suggest they are Uighur.

Authorities have moved to tighten security in energy-rich Xinjiang, and armed police prevented Reuters reporters from entering Lukqun, where one of the detained suspects is from, sending them back to the nearby city of Turpan.

Asked whether she believed Uighurs were responsible, Kadeer said: "Maybe and maybe not. It is difficult to tell at the moment, given the strict control of information by the Chinese government on this tragic incident."

"If the Uighurs did it, I believe they did it out of desperation because there is no channel for the Uighur people to seek redress for any kind of injustice they had suffered under Chinese rule," she added.

Her comments were made in written replies to Reuters questions, translated from the Uighur language by an aide.

Kadeer is a former Chinese political prisoner accused of leaking state secrets in 1999 who left China on medical parole and settled near Washington with her husband and part of her family in 2005. The 66-year-old mother of 11 previously had been a celebrated millionaire who had advised China's parliament.

Kadeer said she feared the Tiananmen Square attack would join a long list of incidents that China uses "to justify its heavy-handed repression" in her native region.

She said she did not believe there was any kind of organised extremist Islamic movement operating in Xinjiang, a view shared by many rights groups and some experts.

"It is almost impossible for Uighurs to organise because of China's stringent controls and attacks."

(Additional reporting by Megha Rajagopalan in BEIJING and Paul Eckert in WASHINGTON; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The political uproar over alleged U.S. eavesdropping on close European allies has produced an unusual defence from the National Security Agency: NSA says it was the Europeans themselves who did the spying, and then handed data to the Americans.

It is rare for intelligence officials to speak in any public detail about liaison arrangements with foreign spy agencies because such relationships are so sensitive. Even more unusual is for the United States to point fingers at partners.

But that is what NSA Director General Keith Alexander did at a public congressional hearing on Tuesday when, attempting to counter international complaints about the agency's alleged excesses, he said its sources for foreign telecommunications information included "data provided to NSA by foreign partners."

Alexander's disclosure marked yet another milestone in NSA's emergence from the shadows to defend its electronic surveillance mission in the wake of damaging revelations by former agency contractor Edward Snowden.

"It is true that in general we stay close-mouthed about intelligence liaison relationships and we only speak in the most general terms about sharing things with our friends and allies," said Paul Pillar, a former senior CIA analyst.

But, he said, there was nothing wrong in correcting information that was out in public, even though Alexander probably "created or exacerbated some political problems" for a number of European allies with his comments.

"Given the hypocrisy being exhibited by the Europeans in saying they are 'shocked, shocked' that these sorts of things go on - allies spying on allies - I don't think we should feel much compunction about having them feel a little bit of domestic political heat if that is necessary to set the story straight in one of our own congressional hearings," Pillar said.

One U.S. official said that before going public with the revelation that telecommunications metadata was collected and supplied to the United States by foreign governments like France and Spain, the Obama administration consulted with the governments concerned. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Metadata refers to information about a phone call or email - the length of a call and the number dialled, for example - that does not include the communication's actual content.

A second U.S. official said that, regardless of foreign governments' reactions, some Obama administration officials wanted to make the information public anyway because they were disappointed at how allies were willing to let Washington take the heat for surveillance activities in which they themselves were partners.

Since early June, the NSA has been forced to defend its eavesdropping operations in public after Snowden leaked information about top-secret spy programs that collect phone, email and social media records, including those generated by Americans, to writers and media outlets, including Britain's Guardian and the Washington Post.

The NSA continues battling the perception its programs are large and intrusive. The Post reported on Wednesday that the agency has tapped directly into communications links used by Google and Yahoo to move huge amounts of email and other user information among overseas data centres.

INTERNATIONAL TURN

Reports that the United States was eavesdropping on the phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and spying on the leaders and citizens of some of its closest European allies - Germany, France, and Spain - drew harsh criticism across Europe.

Mike McConnell, a former NSA director, said at a Bloomberg Government conference on Wednesday that Merkel should not have been surprised about alleged U.S. eavesdropping on her cellphone because world leaders are prime targets for such spying.

"The number one target on the globe is the president of the United States. By everyone," he said. "All nation states do this."

Pillar said this cuts both ways: during the recent U.S. government shutdown, European allies were probably scrambling to get as much intelligence as possible about the state of play in Washington, he said.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said this week that the White House had informed her intelligence collection on U.S. allies "will not continue."

But it is unclear whether that represents a blanket ban.

The NSA uproar prompted delegations from the European Union and Germany to descend on Washington demanding answers.

After meetings in Washington, a delegation of European Parliament members expressed dismay that U.S. officials had provided "no satisfactory reply" to questions regarding the allegations that the NSA had eavesdropped on Merkel's phone calls and those of leaders of unnamed countries friendly to the United States.

In a communiqué, the delegation also said it had received no clarification as to what the White House knew about this alleged NSA eavesdropping.

The delegation warned that if the U.S. response to European concerns about surveillance proved too feeble, that could further damage commercial, diplomatic and legal relations.

On Wednesday U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice held a meeting at the White House with her German counterpart in an effort to ease the transatlantic tensions.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and NSA Deputy Director Chris Inglis also participated, American officials said.

MISINTERPRETATION?

European media have pointed to an NSA slide published by France's Le Monde newspaper as showing that the United States was collecting bulk telephone data on millions of European citizens. But U.S. officials say that slide was misinterpreted.

A U.S. national security official said that the slide actually referred to a program under which French authorities supplied to U.S. intelligence agencies large amounts of raw telephone call data.

That data related to communications transmitted outside France but that passed through telecoms systems or switches to which France had direct, or at least readier, access than NSA itself.

The official indicated that this same scenario applied to allegations regarding the NSA collection of large amounts of metadata in Spain.

Another U.S. official familiar with NSA programs said that the metadata collection was inaccurately characterized in French and Spanish media reports.

It was collected by those governments themselves and turned over to the United States, and the collection was conducted on targets outside of their countries in war zones or countries that are major targets for Western counter-terrorism operations, the official said.

Some of that information, one U.S. official said, helped in investigating at least three counter-terrorism cases in which leads emerged that proved to be productive.

There is "nothing scandalous" about such cooperative joint collection, the official insisted.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission (SC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) to facilitate mutual efforts in building capital markets in Malaysia and Brunei.

In a statement, SC said the MoU aimed to encourage greater cross-border activities, particularly in Islamic capital markets.

Ranjit said the MoU would provide a framework for both parties to explore mutually-beneficial opportunities to enhance greater access to the respective capital markets.

He said the MoU would promote investment activities aligned with the objectives of Asean capital market integration.

"This collaborative partnership is an important initiative in our efforts to grow our capital markets and to create greater channels for investor participation in our respective markets, including in the area of Islamic wealth management," he said. — Bernama

PETALING JAYA: ACE Market-listed REDtone International Bhd posted a sterling 81.72% increase in net profit to RM3.65mil for its first quarter ended Aug 31 from RM2.01mil a year ago, driven by its data and broadband services.

Turnover was up 17.74% to RM36.11mil versus RM30.67mil previously on growth in data revenue, which surged 97.31% to RM22.43mil from RM11.37mil.

Its voice revenues, however, moderated by 23.13% to RM13.62mil, while gross profit margins for data stayed elevated at 41.37%, down slightly from 45.86% in the same period last year.

In contrast, the firm's voice business delivered a gross profit margin of 27.99%, its latest accounts show.

The telco's earnings per share for the June-August period stood at 0.74 sen compared with 0.42 sen earlier.

No dividends were declared for the quarter.

REDtone said its data and broadband services, which include its WiFi hotspots, were expected to be the main contributor to earnings for the current financial year.

"The group intends to continue to build its success as a data and broadband solutions provider by actively tendering projects from the government sectors and telco industry, as well as securing more small and medium enterprise customers," it said yesterday.

REDtone noted, however, that its legacy discounted voice call business and distribution of prepaid and reload services in China, while a "cash cow", have limited growth potential.

"Nevertheless, this segment continues to generate solid cash flow to the group."

The company also said its profit would be buoyed by existing collaborations with telco giants Telekom Malaysia Bhd on high-speed broadband and Maxis Bhd.

REDtone closed up 1.5 sen to 73 sen on heavy trade of 3.91 million shares, after touching an intraday high of 76 sen.

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI was down nearly four points lower in early trade on Thursday weighed by select blue chips, as investors took profit from Genting-related stocks.

At 9.03am, the KLCI erased 3.21 points to 1,814.17. Turnover was 59.88 million valued at RM70.745mil. The broader market was firmer with 81 gainers, 69 decliners while 160 stocks were unchanged.

HwangDBS Vickers Research said key indices on Wall Street fell from their record highs overnight (down between 0.4% and 0.5%) as profit-taking activity set in.

"Back home, the benchmark FBM KLCI – which hit a high of 1,818.89 before losing steam to close at 1,817.38 yesterday – could continue to range-bound between its immediate support and resistance levels of 1,800 and 1,825 for now," it said.

HwangDBS added stocks in focus today include YTL Power, as the group is believed to have submitted the lowest bid for a 2,000MW coal-fired power plant project; Tenaga Nasional, in the run-up to the release of its full-year FY Aug 13 financial results this evening and Aeon Credit Service Malaysia, which has proposed an issuance of subordinated perpetual notes of up to RM400mil.

At Bursa Malaysia, Boustead fell six sen to RM5.18 and Tune Insurance eight sen to RM1.84.

Genting Bhd fell six sen to 10.60 and Genting Plantations six sen to RM10.94.

FGV fell four sen to RM4.46 and IJM four sen to RM5.79.

Gainers were Puncak, up five sen to RM3.41, GTronic three sen to RM3.03 and Ho Hup, up five sen to RM1.86.

Filmmaker Peter Jackson is hosting a special sneak preview event for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug.

Fans will get a sneak peek at the second film of the trilogy after the director announced a global live presentation that will be held next month.

Cinemas in London, New York, Los Angeles and Wellington in New Zealand will be satellite-linked on Nov 4 for an event including a question-and-answer session with cast members, Jackson said on his Facebook page.

The time difference means it will be Nov 5 for Kiwi fans and in Malaysia.

One of the teaser posters for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug.

Jackson did not say who would be involved, but the official Hobbit website said cast members would include Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans and Andy Serkis.

Additional cinemas will be set up in select locations worldwide where fans can gather to watch the event live. It will also be streamed on the Internet.

Jackson, a New Zealander, said further details on locations and timings would be released in coming days on the official Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is set for a Dec 13 release.

The first film in the series, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, was released in December last year with the final chapter The Hobbit: There And Back Again scheduled to come out in July next year.

According to the Hobbit website, production of the the trilogy has so far cost US$561mil. An Unexpected Journey took in just over US$1bil at the box office.

SHAH ALAM: A High Court judge told a Nigerian salesman to "thank his lucky stars" that some 48 drug capsules he ingested did not burst in his stomach.

"I am not a scientist or a doctor.

"But from what was written in the media, these people who carry drugs inside their stomach can die instantly when the capsules burst," said Justice Noor Azian Shaari during a drug trafficking trial here yesterday.

JOHOR BARU: Crime involving youths especially secondary school students, has increased by 2.6 times in the first six months of the year.

Federal police NKRA secretariat director Comm Datuk Wira Ayob Yaakob said the police recorded 873 cases compared to 335 cases within the same period last year.

He said that when the police launched Ops Cantas about two months ago, there was a drop in unhealthy activities involving youths.

He urged the public and school authorities to join hands in addressing the problem as the police alone cannot keep gang members away from students.

"The police have come up with several initiatives to ensure that youths would no longer be involved in crimes.

"Among those are working closely with the relevant agencies including schools, parents and the Education Department throughout the country," he said after attending a Southern Zone Crime Prevention Club seminar held at the Johor Education Department here yesterday.

Ayob said schools facing disciplinary problems such as truancy among its students should come forward and discuss the matter with the police.

In an unrelated matter, he said that the police had opened up 10,000 places for recruitment under the Police Volunteer Reserve (PVR) force.

He said the public should change their perception on the PVR, which is not similar to security guards, as the PVR takes care of government assets such as ports.

"Many under the PVR have other jobs and have to sacrifice their time with their families when on duty," he said.

Ever since she was a teenager, Siti Nooraisyah Mohd Noor has been fascinated by the thought of someday operating her own business.

After she completed schooling at the age of 17, she had already started getting herself in business, doing direct sales of cloths and scarves.

"I think I got the interest from my dad Mohd Noor Manaf, 85. He used to run a small sundy shop at our village and it seemed very exciting to me," said Siti who is now married with two children.

When she started working as an assistant in a clinic, Siti's passion for business did not go away and she continued with direct selling.

Her siblings, she said, had become teachers and showed no interest in business.

"I was the only one who was always interested in business.

"I would bring the scarves and clothes to work and would sell them to my colleagues," said Siti.

The 35-year-old said she then heard about Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), which runs entrepreneurial workshops for women, and decided to join in.

She secured her first loan, which she used to buy various items to sell to her friends and family and ended up making a good profit.

"I decided that I wanted to set up a proper premise and start up my own stationary business.

"I knew starting up a business would be risky but I had to try.

"I received another loan of RM6,000 from AIM and secured a business premise for rent and that is how my business started," said Siti.

Luck was on Siti's side as her business flourished almost immediately.

After opening the first store in 2008, Siti, with the help of her husband now run two stationary stores, one in Seremban and one in Malacca, as well as another two bookstores in two schools in Seremban.

"My business has grown by leaps and bounds.

"When I started out, sales was about RM35,000 a month. Today, it exceeds RM200,000," she said.

Her husband, Shahrolnizam Samsudin, 37, has also left his job as a technician to help run their business.

"I have been attending various training programmes under the AIM banner and have learnt so much about how to sustain a business," she said.

NEW DELHI: At least 44 passengers were killed when a fierce blaze triggered by an exploding fuel tank engulfed a bus in southern India early Wednesday, police said.

The fire broke out after the bus crashed into a central reservation on a highway between the cities of Bangalore and Hyderabad around 5:00 am, said local police spokesman Venkateshwarlu.

"The number of dead, which includes children, is 44," Venkateshwarlu, who uses only one name, told AFP.

Out of 49 people on the bus, five, including the driver and the bus cleaner, broke windows and escaped before the flames engulfed the vehicle, killing the rest, police said.

"The driver and the cleaner tried to run, but the police caught them and they are now in our custody for questioning," said Venkateshwarlu, adding that the three others were taken to a local hospital.

A total of 131,834 people died in road accidents in India in 2011, according to the government's National Crime Records Bureau, which works out at 15 an hour.

Bad roads, speeding vehicles and poor driving are among the contributing factors, and bus crashes with a double-digit death toll are far from rare.

In May, at least 33 people died when an overcrowded bus skidded off a road into a fast-flowing river in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.

The World Health Organization's global status report on road safety 2013 found that eight percent of India's road user deaths were bus drivers or passengers while 32 percent were riders of motorbikes or three-wheelers.- AFP

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese ruling-party panel will recommend the break-up of Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) after shortcomings in the firm's handling of clean-up operations at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, Japanese media said on Wednesday.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) panel is proposing that Tepco's divisions in charge of decommissioning four damaged reactors and treating contaminated water at the plant should be spun off, the Nikkei and Yomiuri newspapers reported.

Tepco has floundered for more than two and a half years in attempting to clear up the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

An earthquake and tsunami knocked out power and cooling at the plant in March 2011, leading to three reactor meltdowns and explosions that sent a huge plume of radiation into the air and sea, forcing 160,000 people to evacuate nearly townships.

Tepco has lost $27 billion since the disaster at the plant north of Tokyo and faces massive liabilities as it decommissions the facility, compensates evacuees and pays for decontamination of an area nearly the size of Connecticut.

Proposals endorsed by senior LDP members this week include complete financial separation of the Fukushima operations from the utility, or transforming them into an independent administrative agency, the Nikkei and Yomiuri said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised that the government will take primary responsibility for containing contaminated water at Fukushima, saying the situation is under control.

The clean-up process is expected to take at least 30 years and cost more than $100 billion.

After months of denials, Tepco confirmed in July that contaminated water from the coastal plant was flowing into the Pacific Ocean. It has also found that 300 tonnes of highly radioactive water leaked from one of hundreds of quickly built storage tanks and reported numerous other problems.

The government effectively nationalised Tepco last year with a taxpayer-funded rescue. But there has been heated debate over direct government involvement in the company and over whether to spin off the Fukushima clean-up and let the remainder of Tepco focus on generating electricity for the Tokyo area.

Tepco has said that it is not in a position to comment on its future structure. It is revising a business turnaround plan after falling behind on its financial targets. The company reports financial first-half earnings on Thursday.